FreeCell rules.
Make room. Build a way home.

How do you set up FreeCell?

Shuffle one 52-card pack without jokers and deal all cards face up into eight columns. The first four columns hold seven cards each; the last four hold six. Leave four single-card free cells and four suit foundations empty above the tableau.

There is no stock pile, waste pile, draw action or hidden card. Every card is visible from the start, though only an exposed card or a correctly arranged movable run can leave a column. Our browser shuffles random deals rather than reproducing numbered Microsoft deals.

On narrow screens the table scrolls sideways inside its own frame. The rules and page stay in the same layout. Select a card, then a column heading, free cell or foundation to choose a destination.

How do tableau moves work?

Place a card on one rank higher in the opposite colour. A red six may go on a black seven; it cannot go on a red seven, a black eight or another six. Hearts and diamonds are red; clubs and spades are black.

The last card of a column is exposed. A sequence can be selected from a higher position only if every card from there to the bottom forms a complete descending run in alternating colours. Unordered cards beneath a selected card prevent that selection.

An empty tableau column accepts any card, not just a king. A movable run may fill it too, subject to the transport limit explained below. There is no wrapping from ace to king in tableau building.

What are the free cells for?

A free cell temporarily holds one exposed card of any rank or suit. You can move that card later to a legal tableau position or its foundation. A cell cannot hold a stack, and an occupied cell cannot receive another card.

Free cells create room to rearrange columns. Filling them all reduces flexibility, so a legal move into a cell is not automatically a useful move. Our Hint control does not evaluate a complete winning plan.

How do foundations work in FreeCell?

Each suit has one foundation. Start with its ace, then add the two, three and so on up to the king. Suits must match exactly. A two of spades cannot start an empty foundation or go on the ace of clubs.

Only a single exposed card may move to a foundation. At this table, cards placed on foundations cannot return to the tableau or free cells. Undo can reverse your most recent move, including a foundation move, as a practice aid.

The game does not automatically send cards home. You choose every move, which makes the lessons easier to follow. All 52 cards must reach the four foundations to win.

How many cards can move together?

Physical FreeCell moves cards one at a time. The browser can combine a sequence of those legal moves into a single action, sometimes called a supermove. A selected run must still descend by one rank and alternate colours throughout.

Our transport limit is (empty free cells + 1) × 2 for each usable empty tableau column. In formula form, capacity = (F + 1) × 2^E. F counts currently empty free cells. E counts empty tableau columns except an empty destination column.

With four empty cells and no empty columns, up to five cards can move together. With one empty cell and one usable empty column, up to four can move. An empty destination does not also act as temporary storage, so it is excluded when counting E.

The source column becomes empty only after its run leaves; it cannot count as an already empty temporary column for that move. A legal destination still needs the right rank and colour unless it is empty.

How do you finish a FreeCell deal?

Complete every suit foundation from ace to king to win. The tableau and all four free cells will then be empty. There is no score target or time limit.

If you cannot find a route, Hint highlights one legal source and names a destination. It does not search for a solution and may suggest a move you later undo. If there are no legal moves, it says so. Undo restores a previous position, Restart repeats the same deal and New deal shuffles a fresh pack after confirmation.

Random deals are not checked for solvability. The game does not claim every deal can be won. Four guided lessons use small prepared positions; full play uses all 52 cards. Reloading or leaving clears the current deal. No account or saved score is required.

References: FreeCell.com rules and FreeCell supermove explanation. The one-way foundations, transport limit and random-deal behaviour used here are stated explicitly. Original descriptions and teaching examples. Reviewed 29 October 2026.